Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris.
Andrew Kelly | Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
The Harris campaign on Saturday called out former President Donald Trump for trying to shift the terms of the Sept. 10 ABC News debate to construct a debate setting that might give him a leg up.
Trump on Friday announced on Truth Social that he had agreed with Fox News to do a Sept. 4 debate, with Fox News moderators and a full audience in attendance.
“Donald Trump is running scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to and running straight to Fox News to bail him out,” Harris campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said, in a statement on Saturday.
Trump cited ongoing litigation with ABC News as creating a “conflict of interest.” Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“He needs to stop playing games and show up to the debate he already committed to on Sept 10. The Vice President will be there one way or the other to take the opportunity to speak to a prime time national audience,” Tyler said.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for response on the Harris campaign’s statement.
Days after Biden dropped out and endorsed Harris, Trump said he would be willing to debate the vice president multiple times. As Harris has gained in the polls and hauled in record fundraising, Trump has repeatedly walked back that initial agreement.
The Harris campaign has said that the vice president will show up at the Sept. 10 debate whether Trump is there or not.
Tyler added that the campaign would be open to negotiating further debates after the two complete the ABC News debate: “Mr. Anytime, anywhere, anyplace should have no problem with that unless he’s too scared to show up on the 10th.”